Chapter 16

J ustine took a step back from the door when she saw the person behind it, a slight shock running through her, and she opened it a hint cautiously not knowing what her brothers might be doing there. Neither of them had come to the birthday dinner they'd had last month and now as fall was giving hint of winter coming quickly as November faded closer to December, she was surprised for them to show out of the blue like this.

She'd been with her new job a little over six weeks and loving it. Even with a few of the guys in the department that were friendly with one of the families giving her some second and third looks whenever she was in the office. That might be thanks to her deciding to use Crawford-Anderson as her last name though.

Tyler was good with it, said they should probably use it for any kids they had surprising her a bit, but she definitely didn't hate the idea. Her mom had just smiled when she mentioned it in passing, before asking if that was her way of announcing their pregnancy. It wasn't but just after that, she had her first cycle since getting her IUD removed. Her next, if normal, was due in a few days now.

They hadn't taken any precautions to avoid her falling pregnant, but they also hadn't been actively tracking and trying. If it didn't happen in the next six months then they decided they'd check things out a bit more, but for now, they were good with whatever happened.

"Noah, Kevin…what are you doing here?" she asked, wrapping Tyler's sweater further around her. He was out working late to help repair the school's football field and grounds after it was mostly destroyed due to a car crashing through the bleachers on the open end of the stadium. The teen thankfully wasn't injured, although his parents and the school administrators probably made him wish he were when it came out he was drunk when the crash happened. His car ran into the goalpost then caught fire, leaving them scrambling to get everything cleaned up so they could finish out the season. Something he was no longer allowed to participate in despite being the team's first string wide receiver.

"We wanted to talk to you—alone," Noah said making her chin rise a hint. "We heard that Tyler was out at the school still and figured it'd be our best chance to do it."

"And what exactly do you want to talk to me alone about?" she asked, staying in the doorway not about to deal with trying to get them out of the house if they were simply here to argue with her over the marriage. She'd heard plenty of it from both of them after the truth came out and she'd barely spoken to either of them via text since then. She hadn't spoken to Noah in person at all since then and only once to Kevin when she saw him in town while she was by herself.

"Maybe we should have said we wanted to talk to you alone first, before we talk to you and Tyler since we're pretty sure you won't want us talking to him by ourselves," Kevin replied sending her brow upwards a hint further.

"To apologize," Noah stated, and her brows shot all the way up as her jaw dropped a bit. "So can we come in?" he added when she just stood there staring at them for another minute.

"Uh yeah, sorry, just making sure I wasn't losing my hearing there," she said, letting them in before heading back to her little spot she'd made on the couch to wait for Tyler to get home. She was wearing a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top with his sweater that smelled exactly like him, and she curled up under the throw on the couch, a gentle fire burning in the large stone fireplace to ward off the chill in the air. She probably should get more wood but that would mean going out to the shed and she'd been too comfortable to do that.

"So, what made you want to come over?" she asked looking between the two. "I mean, you could have texted saying you wanted to talk, really talk to me and not yell at me for who I happened to have fallen in love with."

"Because we figured it'd be better to do it face-to-face and thought it might be better to talk to you on your own before we brought Tyler into the conversation," Kevin answered her.

"We know we reacted badly, continued to react badly for too long, Sis," Noah said warming her heart at the sincerity in his eyes as he said it. "We're sorry about that, truly. It was just a complete shock to find you with someone so suddenly but especially with Tyler of all people. I acted like an ass, but it wasn't all because he's an Anderson. I mean that played a big part of it at first too, but there were two other things that were really bugging and worrying me about it. One, we all knew he was engaged to Angela just weeks before your announcement. We all know that the engagement and marriage were just for show now, but at the time, I didn't."

"I can understand as my older brother you'd be worried about that," Justine said giving him a slight grin. "They really weren't together in any way though."

"So Olivia's told me," Noah replied making her chuckle at his tone.

"The other reason, and my biggest one because to be honest, I never thought Tyler was into Angela," Kevin added, "is because of how he treated girls."

"What are you talking about? Until Angela he hadn't really even ‘dated' anyone," she asked, not following him.

"Yeah but I'd heard about how he dealt with girls while in college," Kevin told her sending her brow up again at the anger in his tone over it. "One of the girls I was dating for a bit had a sister around your age. I think she was maybe a year older than you and I guess she and Tyler went to the same school. We were out in town, and she saw Tyler, knew him from pictures her sister had sent her, and I swear you'd have thought she was the one that'd dated him. She told me about it after I kept asking if she was okay, because she seemed completely different after seeing him. He played with her sister's feelings, led her on, and when all she wanted was for their flirting to turn into something, he humiliated her. Told her he'd never want to touch her let alone kiss her."

"Kevin told me about it about a year later when we saw him being a jerk to a girl at the fair. I was shocked honestly because we'd seen him with the twins, and he never seemed like he'd be that kind of guy. When I told Kevin I was amazed that he was the same guy, he filled me in on what happened with the ex's sister, and a couple months after it, it was confirmed by one of the brothers of our new hire. He went to the same school, saw Tyler and was talking to him when his brother left the office, saw who he was talking to, and I came out after him just after it and saw the way he glared at Tyler. Said he didn't like his brother hanging out with him because he treated women like shit," Noah added. "So seeing him all over you, that you were married, him being an Anderson wasn't the first reason why I didn't want him anywhere near you, Justine. I was worried he'd hurt you. Maybe a bit of me worried that he was also using you to get to the family because of the feud, but it was mostly because he seemed to hate women, and I didn't want him taking that out on you."

"He told me," she said seeing their surprise at her non-reaction to that news. "When we talked the first night, I could see the hatred in his eyes—or least what I assumed was hatred at the time. It was just his way of covering up the pain of everything he was going through. Between Hailey being sick, her surgery and him not being there daily to check on her, and then me leaving the way I did it was all beating him down. We were going to elope," she added watching their eyes widen at that news. "The night before we were going to leave is when I left town. I wrote him letter telling him it wouldn't work, that our families would never accept what was between us, and I didn't want it to destroy us, what we'd had, so I was leaving. The truth is, I knew Hailey was sick—needed a kidney transplant. I overheard his parents arguing when I went over to see him, to tell him that something major was going on between Dad and Grant, so we should probably plan to be gone a little longer than we first planned to after we told everyone. When I heard his parents, I was worried what would happen if we left and something happened to Hailey and he wasn't here…wasn't allowed to be there for her, I just couldn't make him choose between us, so I took myself out of the equation."

"That's why you left town?" she heard from the kitchen area and her eyes widened seeing Caroline and Barb there. Her stomach tightened with worry and the tiniest hint of annoyance that they'd walked right into the house without knocking until Tyler came into the room behind them, dropping a kiss onto her lips that calmed her instantly.

"Sorry, I didn't know your brothers were here or I'd have told Mom and Caroline to stop by later, babydoll," Tyler said, his fingers brushing against her cheek making her smile, leaning into his touch. "I need to take a shower. I'm all grimy and smell like smoke still."

"I like you anyway," she teased grinning up at him as he laughed, his eyes running over her face searching for any hint of tension she was certain, but it wasn't there and he nodded, dropping a kiss onto her forehead before straightening back up, his eyes landing on the dying fire.

"I brought more wood up from the shed to fill the box on porch. Probably why I didn't see any cars, I came in the back way," he explained to his mom and sister before his eyes flowed over to her brothers. "Noah…Kevin…"

"Tyler, we were just telling our sister we were sorry for being so adamant that this was wrong—that you weren't the right man for her," Noah said making his brow tick up a bit.

"Figured she should know how you treated women in college, but it seems she already did," Kevin added, and Tyler shook his head, his thumb stroking her lips as he smiled gently at her.

"I didn't think anyone here knew," he stated making his sister's and mom's brows lift curiously their way.

"I dated the sister of one of the girls you…"

Kevin hesitated and Tyler filled it in for him, "Was a complete and utter jackass towards? I'm not proud of what I did, the girls I hurt with my anger and dismissiveness. I was furious with Justine for leaving, hurting, and wanted everyone else to hurt just as much. Hated seeing happy couples and did some really stupid shit over the years…such as burning down the gazebo and trying to burn the flowers because the truth is, I planted them for Justine and seeing them blooming without her here, not knowing where she was was a bit too much."

"I'm sorry, you burnt down the gazebo?" Caroline asked, her jaw almost on the floor. "That's why you…"

"Helped rebuild it, and take care of it for free, make sure the plants are taken care of," he said, nodding at the questions on their face. "The next year, when Justine's tulips still managed to bloom…there was no denying how much I still loved her and at least out there I could tend to it, wish for things to be different. It didn't stop me from being a complete ass, but mostly it changed from wanting to hurt them for the hell of it and to stop from feeling it to simply being I didn't want any other woman touching me. I tried to be an ass to her when I saw her that first day, but it was impossible to stay angry with her when I learnt the real reason she left."

"To stop you from potentially having to choose between us and her?" Caroline said looking between them and she nodded. "You didn't think to sit down and talk it over with him instead of just leaving?"

"I wanted to, I really did," Justine said knowing there was no way for them to admit the whole story to the group. That was far too dangerous. "I just knew how easily he could talk me into anything. That smile and those eyes…when he turned them on me with a pleading look there was no chance at winning. I was terrified that if I stayed, even if we didn't leave that night and elope, somehow it'd come out that we were together, and things would be even worse with the current situation. I was also terrified that if we did elope and Hailey got worse, no one would let him see her, be with her and if that happened he'd resent me eventually. I thought at least if something happened, he'd be here. He wouldn't have that time taken from him because of me."

"I tried to be angry about it when she told me, asked her what if it'd all been for nothing. I mean, I thank god it wasn't," Tyler said, holding her gaze, his eyes telling her just how much it wasn't god he was really thanking for it, "but if the worst happened and we lost Hailey on top of me losing her, what would have be point and she told me time. That every minute I did have with Hailey would have been worth any pain from us being apart. That if that'd happened, she would have come back, been there for me to lean on even if no one else knew she was there for me."

"How would you have known? I mean, you went to school in Maryland, and you barely talked to any of us," Noah asked her curious as he watched them.

"I was still friends with a few people from here. All it would have taken was a little barb tossed around with Tyler's name for them to have said to give him a break because of what was going on and I kept an eye on the papers out here, praying I didn't see anything about Hailey in them," she hedged. It was half true though, so they easily bought it.

Barb moved over to them with a box, sitting it down on the coffee table before pulling her into a hug that surprised her entirely.

"Thank you, for being so concerned with Tyler's wellbeing, even over yours. That couldn't have been easy," Barb said squeezing her hand gently. "It would have been difficult no matter what but being so far away on your own as well…I can't imagine you had it much easier than Tyler did trying to just get through the days. He had us to lean on, but you were all alone, and then to add in the job you were doing…"

"It's no wonder you were emotionally wrung out when you got home," Tyler finished for her, kissing her temple. "So, what brought you over here?" he asked her brothers when he pulled back, giving his mom a smile as he ran his hand up and down Justine's arm.

"We wanted to stop by and talk to Justine, tell her we were sorry for how we behaved but that most of our reasoning wasn't because you were an Anderson but what we thought was a woman-hating jackass," Noah answered making her grin a hint. "The last few weeks, seeing the two of you at church, the way you've treated her had me finally watching the video a friend sent me of the two of you. I know Olivia watched it, that her, Mom, and Madison were supporting this but she's my baby sister and the thought of anyone playing with or hurting her…I'd have killed anyone that did it. I was sure they didn't know the truth of who you were—or who I thought you were."

"It was in the little things though that had us wondering if maybe we were wrong. That you weren't playing with Justine, that you honestly loved her, and she was the only one that brought out a different side of you," Kevin added.

"Seeing that video, I had to admit that you loved her. So, we stopped by to let her know that as long as that's all we ever see from you towards her, then we won't have any problems, but if you ever…"

"Hurting her hurts me. Haunts me," Tyler said stopping his warning. "The pain in her eyes when I jumped down her throat that first night almost killed me. I just can't do it, can't stand to see tears in her eyes, pain in them and knowing that she did what she thought was best for me, stopped any thoughts of not being with her, keeping her this time. Took me almost two months to convince her this was it for me, that what was between us was real, never going to go away. That I wasn't going to let her run out on me again without a fight.

"Getting married might have seemed fast to everyone else, but she's been mine since we were fourteen. Even if it wasn't for another year and a half that I kissed her. We were together from the day she came home. Yes," he said at the surprise that caused her brothers, "while I was supposedly engaged to Angela, and she knew from the start that the engagement was just to shut everyone up. Keep my mother from throwing eligible women at me," he added her way making her grimace a bit.

"I was trying to make up for how little attention we'd given you after Hailey's transplant. You were so different with everyone except the twins. I hoped you'd fall in love, that the right woman and a family would help you be that man all the time," Barb admitted. "I can see it so easily now though, which is why we asked to stop by actually."

"I'm guessing since Dad isn't here, it's not to tell me he's stopped complaining that Justine's mine?" Tyler said and she shook her head no.

"No, but it is something that the rest of us were good with giving to you. Jeremy included," Caroline said making his eyes darken a hint at the mention of their cousin. "You'll have to forgive him for saying Justine was hot sometime you know."

"Maybe I'll forgive him when he finally meets someone and never turns his eyes towards my girl again," he grumbled making Justine laugh softly looking back up at him again.

"You know I've only ever had eyes for you, honey-bae," she teased him, earning a soft, lingering kiss that had her brother coughing to interrupt.

"Yeah, why don't you keep that to yourselves for now? I might be willing to accept that you love her, and she loves you, and that the two of you are together, but I definitely don't need to see that or know what you do with her when you're alone," Noah said giving him a little glare.

"Alright, for now at least," Tyler said surprising her. "What? I know what it's like to have little sisters and I don't want to see some guy mauling them, even if they enjoy it. So, what did you bring us?" he added to his mom and sister.

"Well, two things really," Caroline said giving them a grin. "The first is from me…sort of. Pretty sure it was originally from Justine to you though based on how you reacted when I claimed I lost it."

"You can't mean…" Tyler stopped, opening the box, a smile hitting his lips finding the jacket inside it. He took it out then lifted the sides until he could unzip the inner pocket, finding it truly was his jacket and not a copy of it.

"I didn't really lose it. I did spill something on it when I took it without asking and ripped the side and didn't want to admit to it," Caroline said when he turned his attention back over to her. "I hid it in my closet for years and remembered it when I was over there the other week. I took it to the dry cleaners to see if they could fix it. They managed to get the stain out, but Mr. Hutton told me it likely wouldn't fit you when I admitted it was yours. That he tailored your suits, so he knew your measurements and the jacket was likely a little small now. So…I asked if there was any way he could make it bigger. The back of it was lined with the same material so he used that to add panels to the sides and on the underside of the sleeves, and we replaced the lining of it with one of grandpa's old shirts."

"My father," Barb added, and Justine grinned knowing how close he and Tyler were until he died when they were seventeen.

"He was the only one who knew about us in high school," Tyler said surprising her at that news. "He knew from the start because I couldn't stop smiling after I finally kissed you, babydoll. Told me you were worth whatever fight it'd take to make you mine forever. It's the perfect addition to it but honestly, it wasn't losing the jacket that I was so angry about," he admitted, pulling the piece of material out of the inside pocket which simply made the others more curious. "It was losing this."

"What is that?" Kevin asked and Justine flushed entirely.

"Probably better to not answer that," she warned Tyler as he dropped a kiss onto her lips.

"Justine?" Noah said drawing their attention his way and he reminded her so much of their dad when his brow rose, his stare pointed.

"It might be a piece of one of my old dresses, which might be the one that I wore the night that Tyler and I got close," she offered, and his eyes widened a bit further.

"Are you seriously saying…Justine Elena Crawford!" he shouted when she just grinned.

"Crawford-Anderson," she said with a grin and a bit of a shrug as Kevin just stared at them.

"Why the hell did you give him that?" Noah asked with a groan. "I mean you seriously cut up your dress for what?"

"The dress was ripped from where it caught on a branch so it was pretty much ruined to start, but I wanted him to have something he could always have close, even when I wasn't," she admitted.

"Wait, isn't this the day you got married?" Caroline asked seeing what she'd embroidered on it.

"One of the reasons we chose that day," Tyler said, making his sister laugh while her brothers simply groaned in response.

"Well, before we risk Justine's brothers coming after you, we want you to have this," his mom said handing over a smaller box and his brow rise in surprise when he popped the lid of it open seeing the ring inside it. "When your grandmother got sick, she left this with me because she never really liked your Aunt Bea—Grace and Jeremy's mother," she added for the others. "She wanted one of her direct grandkids to use it. Grace's husband gave her a ring that was passed down in his family, so it mostly left you and Jeremy. I asked the girls, and they all agreed it should go to you, and Jeremy said if anyone should wear it, it should be Justine because if your grandmother had the chance to get to know her, she'd have loved her as much as you do."

"Dad will hate it," he said but his mom just shrugged making him smile as he turned the box towards Justine. "It goes well with your ring but if you don't like it…"

"It's beautiful," she said, stopping his worry. "I'd love to wear it."

"I love you, babydoll," Tyler said softly, slipping it onto her finger and it fit perfectly. "Jeremy's right, Grandma would have loved you. Loved that you don't take shit from anyone. Would do anything to protect your family," he added, and she read the truth in his eyes of his meaning of that.

"I love you too, Tyler. That's all that's ever mattered. Love always wins, however it's supposed to," she said sinking into his hold, more thankful than ever to have come home and find this again. Nothing and no one was taking it from her this time. No one.